The 4th of July
As we near the 4th of July celebrations in the United States, we must remember how we got where we are.
Our country was established by the flotsam and jetsam of Western Europe. From paupers’ prisons, from persecuted religious minorities. They came and stole land from the indigenous people who lived here. When these indigenous people protested they killed them, sometimes using genocide.
They then kidnapped people from Africa and built their wealth upon the backs of slaves. All of the original 13 states were slave states.
Even today we relegate the remaining indigenous population to poverty. We still have not fulfilled the great principles that this nation was founded upon.
We today are faced with great economic problems but we continue to protect the rich and force the elderly, the disabled, the children and the poor to suffer.
I am not so sure that I can be proud of either our past or our present.
John…we bought much of the land from the Indians. Peter Minuit paid $24 in trinkets for Manhattan in 1626. My 9th Great Grandfather came her in 1659 by the way. We paid 8 million dolars to the Cherokees in Maggie Valley North Carolina for their land. We paid the Cherokee 8.5 million dollars for the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma. I know…what I’m saying does not fit well with modern belief…but it’s true. Did the Indians get a bad deal? Yes…but they were also saved in many places by settlers. Whole tribes had been wiped out by diseases…and we brought medicine that helped many Indians and saved their lives. I hope you don’t think I’m being negative. Just trying to add my two cents.lol Many wrongs were done on both sides. Now…I’m more upset with how the Native Americans were treated right up until the 1960’s…when our government would take the children away from their families and put them in “Indian Schools”…and it was very sad and wrong. Where do I stand on Native Americans? I have much love for them…and I have so much respect for Cochise. He made a stand against the US Army and kept them at bay for seven long years in the Dragoon Mountains of South Eastern Arizona. Cochise was a military leader of his people that I admire greatly. Oh…and we were guilty of stealing the land, or often conning the Indians for their land. The concept of owning land was foreign to the American Indians…they felt the land belonged to everyone. Why did they war amongst each other? For many reasons…often for hunting rights to protect their food source. Just my opinion…and I hope I’ve added some kind of valueable input to your post. Be proud John…we have survived… peace. :love:
Sooo….What are you going to do about it, John? I wouldn’t live in a country I am ashamed of. I would burn the flag and march on DC for my constitutionally guarantee of redress of grievances and tear down the walls of this terrible government that allowed the Dutch East India Company to use Roanoke as a slave trade beach head. After I railed at the machine I would find a country that has never had the stain of genocide, class warfare, slavery, discrimination against the aged, mentally ill, handicapped, illegal aliens, poverty…
The problem is, John—you will be blogging the same thing no matter where you decide to go because the issues you are raising here are issues that we as human beings have struggled with since the human tribe decided to band together in communities and have attempted to provide for the common defense.
Life is messy. There is injustice everywhere you look. The rich versus poor is not just indigenous to democracies like ours, Monarchies like Saudi Arabia, Marxist regimes like Venezueala, communist countries like Cuba, Fake democracies like Russia, Theocracies pretending to be democracies like Iran and Iraq, zionist states like Isreal and on and on ad infinitum.
It is how we as a people address these past crimes against humanity moving forward. It is how we somehow still give charitably even on top of high taxes and high inflation—no matter what party is the majority representing us now or in the past. I personally have lived worked and visited countries whose human condition is much worse than I have seen even when I was homeless living in my car, an abandoned tent camper and a tent under the south Olean NY bridge—
America is it’s people. America is you and I John—right here, right now having this civil discussion about life in America and how you see a ‘America the bleak and totalitarian’ and I see an “America the beautiful but still a work in progress, so let’s roll up our sleeves…”
Two different views of the same place. I like it here—it’s not perfect and there is plenty of room for improvement and that is why I vote instead of just complaining about what is wrong with America this independence weekend…
With all respect, John…I love this country and it’s people—even the ‘I hate America’ crowd
:love: :love:
Happy Independence day, John. I do hope you will pitch in to make it better. Vote often! :groovy:
This is the hard truth! The skeletons in the closet 😉
On the net Americans reiterate their 4th July comments as if the whole world celebrated it, but we don’t – only America does as far as I’m aware
I don’t think there is a piece of land from this face of the earth not to be conquered and wanted at some point by some nation.
For us, first was The Roman Empire. And after, from the important ones, was Ottoman Empire (Turkey from today) and we stood and fight. And in the following years my country land was divided and even today are parts from it to the former Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and the actual Republic of Moldavia.
When we not only embrace the fact that this country is a melting pot, not just of culture, but of good and bad together, and accept the fact that we are NOT the melting pot we brag of when we cannot accept our differences in culture, etc… We must ensure that not only that we embrace this fact that we are a multi-cultural hub, but celebrate these cultures rather than segregate, hate, and more… All people MUST be considered equal, or we are NOT the country we built or brag to be about.
I could go on, but I encourage people to view the related videos that pop out on the side. We DO tend to minimize the Native American plight.
We really need to be able to live peacefully with the cultures within our own borders before we can lead the planet into peace… it seems absurd that we’re trying to enforce peace in Israel, Korea, etc… yet we hate each other in this country. Crazy, isn’t it?
But, we’re still who we are, and I don’t want to be anything else but American, so lets celebrate the fact that we’re all from the same family, no matter what our skin color, our last name is American…
And no, the Redcoats AREN’T coming.
THIS IS BEAUTIFUL…. ITS VERY TRUE, AMERICA IS A MELTING POT OF EVERYONE~~~~ ALLOT OF COUNTRIES ARE BUT WE ARE THE ONLY ONE THAT CELEBRATES OUR FREEDOM~~~ BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AS WELL MY FRIEND…
HAVE A HAPPY FOURTH AND A SUPER WEEKEND!!!
MUCH LOVE,
NICKY